Author's Note: Set after episode 13. Hope and Alaric have a talk after everything they've dealt with the last few days. Not shipping. Shouldn't even have to say that but some of you heathens... There is mentions of basically every other character too. Including Kai being very dead.
One Step Closer
"Think I could have one of those?" Hope asked from the door of Alaric's study. "It's been a long day."
Alaric debated it for a moment before shrugging, he'd already given the boys a drink, letting Hope have a small one couldn't hurt. Gesturing for Hope to take a seat he poured a second drink for her, pushing it across the desk to her. Pouring another for himself, he tried not to laugh as he saw Hope's face scrunch up as she took a sip. He wouldn't be surprised if it was the first drink she'd had, Hope wasn't one for parties or the other typical rebellious acts teens liked to partake in.
"I must say I'm surprised to see you, I assumed you would be with Landon." Alaric said, wondering why Hope was even here. It was late after all, very late.
"I was," Hope said, setting the mostly full drink back on the desk. Shifting she pulled her knees into the chair with her, making herself smaller in a way Alaric hadn't seen in years. In a way that she would never allow the other students to see her. "My mind can't seem to make up who I need to be most worried for."
She had been asleep for only half an hour or so before waking in a panic, worried that Landon had been hurt again. Then as soon as she managed to reassure herself that he was safe, which should've been easier than it was given that he was right beside her, she'd been hit with a rush of concern for Josie. And then for Lizzie, and Alaric, and even Raphael who she hadn't even had a chance to see yet. It had led to her roaming the halls, stopping by the girl's room first and checking that they were truly safe before having noticed the light in Dr. Saltzman's office.
"A problem I'm well acquainted with," Alaric said with a chuckle. Josie and Lizzie were always his top concern, but he loved Hope like a daughter, and between the three of them there was always plenty to worry about. "Fortunately, we do have one less enemy to worry about now."
"I take it you took care of Kai then?" Hope asked, realizing now why he was even still up.
"Kai is well and taken care off." Alaric said, not able to keep a smile from springing to his face. Beheaded, burned to ash, mixed into a block of quick dry cement, and then tossed into the lake for good measure. He supposed it was still technically possible that someone could find a way to resurrect Kai if they were determined enough but they would have to work for it. And no one who knew Kai would ever be that determined to bring him back.
"Good work capturing him by the way, I take it that you didn't kill him then because he was still tethered to the prison world?" Alaric asked, taking a guess as to why Hope had left him alive.
"Right, I couldn't be sure killing him wouldn't kill you too, so I waited. It wasn't really that hard to beat him, he talked too much." Hope said, getting Alaric to laugh a bit in agreement. The barn she'd led Kai to wasn't a random location but one of several reserve armories that Alaric had set up. Each one had a healthy supply of anti-supernatural weapons, from wolfsbane and silver weapons for werewolves to anti-magic chains to combat witches. Chains that had been made strong enough to stop even an Original from breaking them, or more accurately the Original Hybrid.
"He always loved to talk…" Alaric confirmed with a shake of his head. Even by the standards of maniacal supernatural villains Kai had an ego, he always believed that he was the smartest in the room and that he could talk his way out of anything. Hell, he probably died still believing that.
"That's an understatement, I showed a little bit of doubt and he went full villain monologue on me." Hope commented, smiling slightly as she remembered how easy her ruse had worked. Just a little bit of uncertainty and he'd told her his whole plan and left himself wide open to capture. Pity she hadn't gotten to keep her word and return to finish him herself, but she supposed that Dr. Saltzman deserved it more. "Speaking of capturing, what are you going to do about our 'guests' in the old mill?"
"Heh, guests." That was a nice way to refer to the teenage vampire and witch he'd sentenced to a prison world for murder ten years ago and a highly unstable witch who'd sent him and his daughters into the same world. "I honestly do not know. I feel that Jade and Wendy deserve a second chance. And while I'm far from pleased with Alyssa, having seen the consequences of my own past mistakes I'm leaning toward being lenient."
"Just be sure to make it clear how lucky she got." Hope said, a dark smile playing over her face. She wasn't sure what would've happened if Alyssa had gone through with untethering spell, but she knew it wouldn't have gone well for the witch. She had already been having difficulty restraining herself from simply tearing the information she'd needed out of the witch, if she had actually managed to kill Alaric and Lizzie and Josie then she didn't know what she would have done. She was a Mikaelson though and that narrowed down her what her likely decision would've been quite a bit.
Taking another sip of his drink Alaric smiled at Hope, unable to hide how proud he was of her. Not only had she served up Kai for the slaughter, but she'd stopped Alyssa Chang from completing the untethering spell, likely saving not only himself but more importantly his daughters. It looked like she might even have bonded with Alyssa a bit, something he would never have suspected was possible.
He was fine with dying if that was what it would take to save his girls, it wasn't like it'd be the first time anyways. But he couldn't bear the idea of losing either of them. "I don't think I thanked you for earlier yet. Not for Kai, but for coming to save us."
Hope started to brush it off before stopping, hugging her knees closer to her for a moment. "It was the right choice." She said finally. It was the right choice, three lives over one. Save Josie, Lizzie and Alaric from certain death or try and reach Landon in time to save him from something that might not actually be able to kill him. The arrow hadn't even killed Mr. Williams after all. She had made the right choice. She always had to make the right choice.
"There's never a right choice in those situations," Alaric said, getting Hope to look up at him in surprise. "That's just the lie we tell ourselves to make it easier. All you can do is make a choice and live with the outcome."
"That's not good enough." Hope retorted, surprising herself as she did. "I have to do the right thing. I don't get to be selfish or not care. I can't choose to save one person over everyone else."
It wasn't like the Saltzman's were random bystanders she didn't know either, she loved each of them in their own way. Alaric who had been a pseudo father to her, even though she had occasionally resented him for it. Lizzie who she had waited sixteen years to finally become friends with, finding that she actually enjoyed the snark when it wasn't aimed exclusively at her. Josie who she had missed most of all, the girl who always put other's first even when everyone could tell how it tore her apart.
Alaric shook his head at that, Hope always put too much pressure on herself. A heart of gold, a desire to atone for her family's millennia long history of violence, the guilt she bore for all those she had killed, the weight of her father and mother's deaths, a tendency toward self-sacrifice, and a belief that her birth had been a cosmic mistake had all twisted together to leave Hope believing that she had to always make the right choice. Because if she was ever selfish, if she ever made the wrong choice, then it was an affront to everything she felt she had to live up too.
It was nowhere near a healthy mindset to have, for anyone, let alone a teenage girl. But he didn't know how to help her, besides trying to make sure that she wasn't the one having to make that choice. As today had demonstrated that was much easier said than done though. "I-… dammit Hope, I don't know what to say. You risked your boyfriend's life to save my daughters. Part of me wants to tell you to stop putting so much damn pressure on yourself but the rest of me looks at the result and is thankful that you do."
"I had to make a choice. And I didn't choose Landon." Hope said softly, echoing what she'd said to Josie as she had stood at the edge of forest, hoping for a miracle. It had been the right choice, the results clearly backed that up. Which is why she was up so late, wandering the halls and checking that everyone was still alive. Because the next time she had to make the same choice it might not end so well.
"Thanks for the drink," Hope said, standing up abruptly and turning to leave. All of sudden it was just too much. She had to leave. Maybe go for a run and just not think for a bit.
"Hope. Thank you for saving my daughters." Alaric said, getting Hope to pause as she headed for the door.
"… I think I'll always choose to save them." Hope said, surprising herself with the answer. That had been part of what had been eating at her all night. It had hurt to choose the twins over Landon, but it hadn't hurt as much as she felt it should have. And she wasn't sure what to do with that. "The woods should be clear, right?"
"Everyone is under curfew tonight so yes." Alaric responded, knowing why Hope was asking. Technically Hope should be under that same curfew as well but she had more than earned a few special privileges. "I'd avoid the old mill though. Unless you intend to give our guests a heart attack."
"Dr. Saltzman, that is a wonderful idea. Thank you for that suggestion." Hope replied, a genuine smile spreading across her face. Why should she be the only one going sleepless tonight? Some harmless tormenting of Alyssa Chang might be just what she needed to calm down.
"That's not what I meant," Alaric protested futilely as Hope left his office. Shaking his head, he poured himself another drink, sipping it slowly as he waited. It was only a few minutes later that he heard the first howl, coming from the direction of the old mill just as he suspected it would. Tossing back the rest of his drink he finally stood up and left his office, turning out the lights as he passed through the door. He couldn't help smiling as he heard another howl on the way to his room, it wasn't much but the simple fact that Hope was able to enjoy such petty revenge was enough to ease some of his doubts. Even if it was just for a few more hours she could just be a teenager, one taking advantage of her supernatural abilities to torment her roommate sure, but a teenager.